Pickleball Magazine 4-6 WD | Page 19

WOMEN’S PICKLEBALL ASSOCIATION AND MONMOUTH PICKLEBALL CLUB RAISE $13K FOR THE FIRST ANNUAL PFC. JAMIE RILEY PICKLEBALL FUNDRAISING FESTIVAL M embers of the Monmouth Pickleball Club came out in full force to support The First Annual Pfc. Jamie Riley Pickleball Fundraising Festival. The Monmouth Pickleball Club, based in Red Bank, NJ, was formed in 2016 and includes nearly 200 members. Sadie Reilly, a USAPA Ambassador, member of the Monmouth Pickleball Club and founder of the nonprofit Women’s Pickleball Association (WPA), developed the idea for the fundraising event. The event was named in memory of Army Pfc. Jamie Riley, who died earlier this year at the age of 21 in an Army training accident in Texas. Jamie’s mother, Carolyn, is also a member of the Monmouth Pickleball Club. To show their support for Carolyn and to honor Jamie, over 110 members and friends of the Monmouth Pickleball Club turned out on a fabulous sunny fall day to play in the event. The day started with everyone gathered for the national anthem and a formal salute to Jamie by the Fair Haven Police Honor Guard. Fair Haven Mayor Ben Lucarelli and Jamie’s family followed with opening remarks. Dwight Macock, President of the Monmouth Pickleball Club, who also helped organize the event, told the crowd, “Today’s event is very different from a normal tournament. Because of the reason we are gathered here, it will be a day you remember all of your pickleball life.” The fundraising event included a morning of men’s and women’s doubles matches and a full afternoon of mixed doubles on 12 courts of action- packed pickleball. The Women’s Pickleball Association organized dozens of volunteers to set up the courts, collect gifts for a silent auction, produce and sell memorial t-shirts and solicit donations from local merchants and pickleball manufacturers. Engage, Franklin, Gamma, Mueller Sports Medicine, Paddletek, Pickleball Athlete, Pickleball Central, PPR, ProLite, Selkirk and other industry leaders stepped up to support the event with donations. Sadie said, “It was wonderful to see the local pickleball community come together to support a member whose family suffered such a tragic loss. The response by the volunteers and participants was overwhelming. Everyone came together to make it a memorable day on the pickleball courts.” All of the hard work paid off as the Women’s Pickleball Association raised more than $13,000 through tournament entry fees, donations, t-shirt sales and lively auction bidding. Of the money raised, $5,000 was donated on behalf of Pfc. Jamie Riley to ThanksUSA, which funds need-based scholarships for military families. More than $8,000 was donated to the local Fair Haven Knollwood School to support its 8th grade trip to Washington, DC, to study the history and government of the United States. US OPEN PICKLEBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS AND COLLIER COUNTY WORK TOGETHER TO IMPROVE THE MECCA OF PICKLEBALL! T he home of the Minto US OPEN Pickleball Championships will be rewarded with plenty of upgrades over the next few years. The County Commissioners unanimously voted to invest $23 million into East Naples Community Park to help improve the overall pickleball experience. Improvements to the park include updating the power and wi-fi, adding 10 additional courts (bringing the grand total of Deco Turf courts for everyday play to 64), building a welcome center that includes bathrooms, showers and a pro shop, along with long-term plans to build a multi-use Championship Court. Commissioner Donna Fiala said, “Much of this is long overdue for this park and as the US OPEN grows, we need to grow with it. I am so excited for these improvements to get started.” “This is great for the US OPEN but also very much needed for the 400+ players who show up every day to play here,” said US OPEN co-founder Terri Graham. The improvements will also benefit the local Southern Tropics tournaments as well as additional pickleball programs taking place at the park throughout the year. The Pickleball Capital of the World will be bigger and better than ever in the years to come. NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2019 | MAGAZINE 17